Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

Howard Spitz is dissatisfied with his lot in life. For years he has been writing unsuccessful and trashy detective novels; now his creditors, his agent, Lou, and his publishers are dissatisfied with Howard. Then he gets his big break. Howard discovers there is an audience out there for his unique writing style... and they are all under twelve years old. His trenchcoated bovine detective 'Crafty Cow' is an instant hit.





The problem is that the idea isn't all his. Ten year old Samantha is his creative partner. And she will only keep working if Howard helps her to find her long-lost father. Meanwhile, Howard realises he can't cope with the adulation and publicity his success has brought. He hires a dim-witted actor, Roger, to impersonate him as they all travel round the country promoting 'Crafty Cow'.





The search for Samantha's father continues, and Howard, who never saw himself as remotely paternal, finds himself united with Laura, Samantha's mother, in parental concern. Could it be that the heart of world weary Howard is melting to both Samantha and her mother? THE REAL HOWARD SPITZ is a heart-warming and romantic comedy about the lives of a number of absurd, funny and endearing characters.

Synopsis

Gypsies and Travellers: happy people in painted wagons, touring the rural lanes of Britain. Or are they? The Road explores perceptions of traditional travelling life versus the reality of being a Gypsy in Britain today, using a montage of images and voices to create a picture of a close and closed society.

Synopsis

Set in the late 1950's and early '60s The Round Tower is the story of convent-school educated Vanessa Ratcliffe, rough diamond Angus Cotton, and the events which draw the unlikely pair together. Angus, a supervisor at the engineering works run by Vanessa's father, is blamed when scandal threatens the wealthy Ratcliffe family. The situation kick starts his own ambitious plans for the future, a future which unexpectedly comes to include Vanessa.

Synopsis

A visual jigsaw is assembled across an array of screens revealing a series of interconnecting worlds.

Synopsis

The Scar is about a community in crisis. Twelve years after the miners' strike, the developers are moving in and history is being erased by the bulldozers. But the scars of the past run deep and the bitterness of the men and women whose lives have been destroyed survives beneath the cosmetic cover.





The film's catalyst is May Murton. The onset of the menopause, the failure of her marriage and the disintegration of her community have shattered both her personal and political beliefs. Like many women who were active during the strike, it is May who has been left to clean up the mess. But time has taken its toll. Her teenage children Dale and Becky are increasingly out of control, and her estranged husband Tony has flown the nest to take up residence in the allotments perched high above town. Tony views the town from above, realising what has been lost but, like many former miners stripped of the capacity to re-engage with a society which has treated him so cruelly. When May falls in love with Roy, who manages a nearby open-cast mine, she must cross the political divide between them - changing their lives forever.

Synopsis

The Sea Change is a contemporary romantic comedy. The main focus is on Rupert, a very successful city businessman, and his relationship with his girlfriend Alison. Rupert thinks that all he needs to complete his successful 'life package' (prosperous career, designer flat, luxurious car), is a wife.





Rupert takes Alison out to lunch and confidently proposes, but to his utter astonishment, Alison does not say yes or no; only that she may consider marrying him if he were to change.





However now Rupert's problems really begin after he attempts to return early from his business trip to Barcelona, and attend Alison's birthday. His plane becomes redirected to Madrid, he's arrested by customs and he encounters Chas the builder, a chance meeting that changes Rupert's outlook on life for ever. By the time he makes it back to London he is a different person, but his next hurdle is convincing the understandably sceptical Alison that he has changed for the better.

Synopsis

Nimi leads a relatively peaceful life amongst the female dominated Nigerian community in a picturesque coastal town in southern France. Life consists of working as a landscape gardener, looking after her eight year old son Sammy and attending exuberant masses at the local African church. Nimi's unmarried status (and son) are frowned upon by her traditionalist neighbours and her mother Nene is very keen to marry her off to confer her with respectability. When the handsome Reverend Fola moves into town and shows interest in Nimi, it is like a godsend for Nene who desperately attempts to get the two together.


Nimi's son Sammy, however, has other ideas. He has confused writer Matthew, the creator of his beloved comic action hero Saracen, with his heroic creation and deems him a much more suitable match than the Reverend Fola for his mother. He tries at length to persuade Matthew to marry his mother instead, using every means at his disposal to unite them.


Against their expectations, love blossoms. Although Nimi has resigned herself to marriage to the rather unexciting Reverend Fola, she is intrigued by Matthew. However, she is also very aware of Matthew's married status, distrust of women and general unwillingness to commit to a relationship. In contrast, Matthew is drawn to Nimi not just for her beauty, but the stability of her African way of life and an innate goodness which throws him completely off-guard.

Synopsis

The story of Algernon Pendleton who lives a quiet and obscure existence in his great grandfather's house with Eulalia, his talkative and jealous porcelain cat. Arrives Madge, a captivating and ruthless professor of Egyptology, convinced there is a buried Egyptian treasure in Al's backyard. When Al' s war buddy, Norbie, drops in with a suitcase full of money and mind-numbing absinthe, Al's quiet life careers wildly out of control.

Synopsis

The young street kid Tashan is branded for a theft and left for dead. He awakes and embarks on his journey through rural India, during which he discovers he has a gift.

Synopsis

In 1866 one of the wealthiest young men in England disappears when sailing around the world. Ten years later, sightings of the presumed drowned Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne, are made in South America and Australia.





A trusted black man servant, Bogle, is sent to Australia to identify the heir apparent.





After several years of fruitless searching, Bogle writes back to the Tichbornes in England informing them that their son is in fact probably dead. They inform Bogle that he may as well stay in Australia.





Desperate for a ticket home, Bogle decides to train an unlikely imposter, an overweight butcher with an uncanny resemblance to the missing heir, in the ways and manners of an English gentleman.





Back in England his eccentric mother recognises Bogle's trained gentleman immediately as her missing son, much to the horror of the rest of the family. And so begins one of the longest running court cases in English legal history, and a story which takes a remarkable turn as the imposter Bogle has unearthed suddenly begins to act and behave like the man he is supposed to be.





Is he Sir Roger or not? Based upon a true story.

Synopsis

The tiny Hebridean island of Eigg is up for sale and after decades of absentee and uncooperative landlords, the islanders have decided to put in a bid themselves. But can they raise the asking price of £2 million? This film follows the highs and lows of their campaign as the islanders fight to buy their freedom from feudalism.

Synopsis

The Wedding is a short but poignant look at relationships in particular those between the female characters. The story unfolds on the eve of Helen's big day and we discover that best friend Margaret is to be bridesmaid; this point churns up her own hidden desires and lost hope of ever achieving the ultimate success in relationship heaven.